If you're in Walthamstow this week end.....

Don't forget to catch the last of the E17 Art Trail this week end and pop along to the E17 Designers at the Asian Centre on Sunday from 2pm. There's a few new designers with new quirky offerings, see some of their great work below.

Kirsten

Well I am back and ready to begin.....

I have some good news first my baby passed 5 A levels and is going to St Marys University in Twickenham to become a primary school teacher. She starts in a few weeks when Pope Benedict XVI is visiting at the same time, how good is that?

Here's my baby - 17 years ago!


Also before I left I entered a competition at the William Morris Gallery and when I got home there was a letter waiting for me announcing that they've accepted my piece as part of their Inspired by William Morris exhibition.

I am so pleased so if you are around please pop into William Morris gallery.

Here are a few pics with details.....


Also at long last I have finished my quilt - after just a little mishap in the in the middle of making it, accidentally loosing it and then finding it in the boot of my car underneath some material! But here it is in all its colourful glory!
Sharon

30th Birthdays....

This year it was all of our 30th birthdays so to mark such a big milestone I decided I would make a print for all of my friends. The idea was to use some images from a daytrip we all went on to Beth Chatto's garden in Spring - yes we are old before our time, we even had a cup of tea and handmade cakes in the cafe and were the youngest there by a good 20 years!

I have finally finished the prints after all of their birthdays have come and gone but I think it was worth the wait - I only hope they do too!!

Here are the lino's that I cut out - I love this kind of lino it is so easy to carve through, would def recommend it to anyone who's new out there. I find it a lot better than the traditional lino but that's just my opinion.



and here are the results....
I printed them on various kinds of paper including my favourite, French vintage paper, taken from old books from Paris, and in various colours, although purple is my favourite.
I've also just put them onto Etsy so if you're interested then go to our Etsy store. for only £15 with free postage and packaging in the UK. I can make a custom order to the colour of your choice as well.


So from the success of those i'm now onto my next ones to build up a little collection. Here are the drawings so far and i'll show you the results when I get going.....

ooh if anyone can recommend a pen to draw straight onto the lino with i'd be very grateful, i'm finding biro's a bit stiff but when I use Pilot drawing pens I end up covered in ink!!

E17 Art Trail.....

grows year by year and this year there are a staggering 200 listings!!

The E17 Designers are appearing at the Asian Centre on Sunday 12th. So make sure to pop along to see them whilst on your travels around the borough viewing all the art work. Check out their website for all the other listings.




This year i'm doing a one day drop in workshop with artwork for sale at Chestnuts House on Saturday 11th September, 10am-3pm.

Full details:
Community Learning and Skills Service
Chestnuts House, 398 Hoe Street C3
A range of CLaSS learners work. Showing the skills thay have gained through training. You will be able to touch, discuss and try a variety of creative activities. 020 8521 4311 www.walthamforestclass.gov.uk

Sharon

Holiday catch up.....

We've both been a little quiet at the moment, my mum is still on her holiday and i've just come back from a last minute get away to Vence in France to stay with friends. As you can imagine, it was lovely and this was the view from our bedroom window, which was my friends childhood bedroom. I still can't believe she woke up to this everyday but I can understand why she's dying to move back.


Going away with lots of friends gave little time to chill out and explore the sights but I was given some spare time, hours before we were due to fly back, to explore Vence.

A really nice surprise was learning that Matisse's chapel is in Vence so that was our first tour which was lovely and we timed it just right as the tour guide just started as we walked in. Luckily my friend translated everything for me, otherwise you'll have to brush up on your French to understand anything like his influences from Morocco. Matisse designed everything in there from the furniture to the floors and even the priests robes! Unfortunately you're not allowed to take pics inside but a really nice little old lady let us sneak out the side entrance to take a few pics, this was all I could manage before the groundsman caught us and threw us out!!


Next stop was Vence itself which is a typically quaint French town set around an historic old quarters complete with maze like narrow streets, where you can easily get lost and little glimpses and views to the mountains. There are a few artworks dotted around from an artist, I can't remember his name sorry, who makes the work look like they've been lying in the bottom of the sea for years, here's one with the mountains in the background.....


When we were wondering the back street of the historic centre we came across this graffiti work from French artist C125. I was so shocked as i've known him for a while and am always using his work as inspiration so it was great to see a piece in real life and when you least expect it!!


So although I was only allowed a few hours to catch up on some culture it was jam packed with brilliant finds. To top it off we ended up in an antique market where I got my first holiday souvenir of old factory cotton reels. So a quick dash back to the house to grab our bags and we made it to the airport just in time for our flight.

VandA Architects Build Small Spaces....

A few weeks ago I had a few hours to spare so I popped along to the V&A, which is always an easy place to loose yourself for a few hours! I was in luck as well as they were holding a special architecture exhibition. The idea behind it was to bring architecture to the general public, making it easily accessible and interactive. So 7 architects and their practices came up with some really quirky and original designs. Here are some of their creations.....

Terunobu Fujimori Beetles House where you can climb up in limited numbers and enjoy a cup of tea with friends or meet new people....

This was in the medieval room which I had never been to before, it's a great little space with quirky features, clearly from churches and places of worship.


I love the random heads on this wall, which was really surreal as I didn't even notice them at first!

Here is Studio Mumbai Architects, Mumbai, India with In-between Architecture which represents the dwellings people create in the slums of Mumbai.

I loved David's head peeping up in the background! To be honest I found the sculpture of David far more awe inspiring due to its humongous scale but don't tell the architects!

My favourite of them all was Helen & Hard Architects from Stavanger in Norway with Ratatosk which took inspiration from nature and Norse mythology. I would love to have something like this in my garden.

To see the others including Vasio S/A amazing spiral booths and read more click here

Kirsten

New CD sleeve design....

Hi,

Just thought i'd share what i've been working on at the moment.
I was just given a great opportunity to design a CD cover for Imani Hekima's new song 'Shame'. Have a listen on his myspace page as he has an amazing soulful voice.
Although the video to the single is aimed to promote awareness about honour killings of girls and women the song itself is open to many interpretations of destruction.

So my starting point was trying to find an image that captured the right mood which never really came, I even made a terrible attempt to pose for one myself which was very embarassing and nothing like the great attempts I see other budding artists do on Flickr! So I ended up painting the image of the girl myself using a thick Japanese brush and black ink and am really happy with the way it came out. However it was looking a bit flat so to add some depth I put some texture in the background with layers of paint and my favourite new toy, my paint roller, and added some tears of blood dripping from the girls eyes.

We're both really pleased with the outcome so I hope the single does well, which is due to be released at the end of August, and helps to raise more awareness.

Kirsten